<p align="center"> <strong>A Model Context Protocol server for IPFS operations</strong> </p>

<p align="center"> Give Claude full control over the InterPlanetary File System </p>

<p align="center"> <a href="#-quick-start">Quick Start</a> • <a href="#-features">Features</a> • <a href="#-tools">Tools</a> • <a href="#%EF%B8%8F-configuration">Configuration</a> • <a href="#-architecture">Architecture</a> • <a href="#-contributing">Contributing</a> </p>

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What is MCP-IPFS?

MCP-IPFS is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables Claude and other AI assistants to interact directly with IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). It provides a comprehensive suite of tools for content-addressed storage, peer-to-peer networking, and decentralized data management.

Built on Helia (the modern JavaScript IPFS implementation), with a pluggable architecture ready for Kubo and remote pinning services.

Why MCP-IPFS?

| Without MCP-IPFS | With MCP-IPFS | |------------------|---------------| | Manual IPFS CLI commands | Claude handles IPFS operations directly | | Copy-paste CIDs between tools | Seamless content-addressed workflows | | No visibility into node status | Full observability of peers, bandwidth, DHT | | Long operations block interaction | Background jobs with progress tracking | | Single IPFS backend | Pluggable: Helia, Kubo, pinning services |

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🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
Claude Code CLI or any MCP-compatible client

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/EricGrill/mcp-ipfs.git
cd mcp-ipfs

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

Add to Claude Code

Add to your ~/.claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ipfs": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/mcp-ipfs/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Verify Installation

You: What's the IPFS node status?

Claude: [Uses node_status tool]
Node is running with peer ID QmXxx...
Connected to 12 peers
Repository size: 45.2 MB

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✨ Features

📦 Content Operations

Add & retrieve text, JSON, files, directories
Pin management to prevent garbage collection
IPNS publishing for mutable names
MFS (Mutable File System) for familiar file operations
DAG operations for advanced IPLD data structures

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🔭 Node Monitoring

Node identity and health status
Peer connections with latency and direction
Bandwidth statistics total and per-protocol
Repository stats and garbage collection
DHT operations for peer/content discovery

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⚡ Background Jobs

Async operations for large files and slow networks
Progress tracking with real-time updates
Job management - list, poll, cancel
Auto-detection - small ops return immediately

</td> <td>

🔌 Pluggable Backends

Helia (embedded) - zero external dependencies
Kubo (planned) - connect to existing go-ipfs nodes
Pinning Services (planned) - Pinata, Web3.Storage

</td> </tr> </table>

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🛠 Tools

Content Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | ipfs_add | Add text, JSON, or file to IPFS. Returns CID. | | ipfs_get | Retrieve content by CID | | ipfs_pin | Pin content to prevent garbage collection | | ipfs_unpin | Unpin content | | ipfs_pins_list | List all pinned CIDs | | ipfs_add_directory | Add entire directory, returns root CID | | ipfs_ls | List contents of directory CID | | ipfs_get_file | Get specific file from directory by path |

IPNS Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | ipns_publish | Publish CID to IPNS name | | ipns_resolve | Resolve IPNS name to current CID | | ipns_keys_list | List available IPNS keys |

MFS Tools (Mutable File System)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | mfs_write | Write content to mutable path | | mfs_read | Read content from MFS path | | mfs_ls | List directory contents | | mfs_mkdir | Create directory | | mfs_rm | Remove file or directory | | mfs_mv | Move/rename file or directory | | mfs_flush | Flush MFS to get root CID |

DAG Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | dag_put | Store IPLD data, returns CID | | dag_get | Retrieve IPLD node, optionally traverse path |

Node Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | node_id | Get peer ID, public key, versions | | node_status | Quick health check | | node_version | Detailed version info | | peers_list | Connected peers with details | | peers_count | Simple peer count | | bandwidth_stats | Network bandwidth metrics | | swarm_connect | Connect to peer by multiaddr | | swarm_disconnect | Disconnect from peer | | repo_stats | Repository statistics | | repo_gc | Trigger garbage collection |

DHT Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | dht_find_peer | Find addresses for peer ID via DHT | | dht_find_providers | Find peers providing a CID (configurable limit) | | dht_provide | Announce content availability to the network |

Job Tools

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | job_status | Get status of background job | | jobs_list | List all jobs | | job_cancel | Cancel running job |

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⚙️ Configuration

Configuration File

Create mcp-ipfs.config.json in the project root:

{
  "backend": "helia",
  "persistence": {
    "enabled": true,
    "path": "./ipfs-data"
  },
  "helia": {
    "libp2p": {
      "addresses": ["/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/4002"],
      "bootstrap": true
    }
  },
  "jobs": {
    "maxConcurrent": 3,
    "defaultTimeout": 300000
  }
}

Environment Variables

Environment variables override config file settings:

| Variable | Description | Default | |----------|-------------|---------| | MCP_IPFS_BACKEND | Backend to use | helia | | MCP_IPFS_PERSISTENCE_ENABLED | Enable persistent storage | true | | MCP_IPFS_DATA_PATH | Data directory path | ./ipfs-data | | MCP_IPFS_BOOTSTRAP | Connect to bootstrap nodes | true | | MCP_IPFS_JOBS_MAX_CONCURRENT | Max concurrent jobs | 3 | | MCP_IPFS_JOBS_TIMEOUT | Default job timeout (ms) | 300000 |

Persistence Modes

Persistent (default):

Content survives server restarts
Uses LevelDB blockstore
Recommended for production

In-memory:

Content lost on restart
Faster for testing
Set persistence.enabled: false

---

🏗 Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   Claude                         │
└─────────────────────┬───────────────────────────┘
                      │ MCP Protocol (JSON-RPC)
┌─────────────────────▼───────────────────────────┐
│              MCP-IPFS Server                     │
│                                                  │
│  ┌───────────┐  ┌───────────┐  ┌─────────────┐ │
│  │  Content  │  │   Node    │  │    Job      │ │
│  │   Tools   │  │   Tools   │  │   Manager   │ │
│  └─────┬─────┘  └─────┬─────┘  └──────┬──────┘ │
│        │              │               │        │
│        └──────────────┼───────────────┘        │
│                       │                         │
│           ┌───────────▼───────────┐            │
│           │    Backend Layer      │            │
│           │   (IPFSBackend)       │            │
│           └───────────┬───────────┘            │
└───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────┘
                        │
          ┌─────────────┼─────────────┐
    ┌─────▼────┐  ┌─────▼────┐  ┌─────▼────┐
    │  Helia   │  │   Kubo   │  │ Pinning  │
    │(embedded)│  │   API    │  │ Services │
    └──────────┘  └──────────┘  └──────────┘
         ✓           planned      planned

Key Components

| Component | Responsibility | |-----------|----------------| | Content Tools | IPFS add/get/pin, IPNS, MFS, DAG operations | | Node Tools | Status, peers, bandwidth, repo, DHT, config | | Job Manager | Queue long operations, track progress, enable polling | | Backend Layer | Abstract IPFS implementation details |

Backend Interface

interface IPFSBackend {
  // Lifecycle
  start(): Promise<void>;
  stop(): Promise<void>;

  // Content
  add(content: Uint8Array, options?: AddOptions): Promise<CID>;
  get(cid: CID): Promise<Uint8Array>;
  pin(cid: CID): Promise<void>;
  unpin(cid: CID): Promise<void>;

  // Node info
  id(): Promise<PeerInfo>;
  peers(): Promise<PeerConnection[]>;
  // ... etc
}

---

📁 Project Structure

mcp-ipfs/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # Entry point
│   ├── server.ts             # MCP server setup
│   ├── tools/
│   │   ├── content.ts        # Content operations
│   │   ├── node.ts           # Node monitoring
│   │   └── jobs.ts           # Job management
│   ├── backends/
│   │   ├── interface.ts      # Backend abstraction
│   │   └── helia.ts          # Helia implementation
│   ├── jobs/
│   │   └── manager.ts        # Job queue
│   └── config.ts             # Configuration
├── test/
│   ├── content.test.ts
│   ├── node.test.ts
│   └── jobs.test.ts
├── docs/
│   └── plans/                # Design documents
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── mcp-ipfs.config.json

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🧪 Development

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Run in development mode
npm run dev

# Run tests
npm test

# Build for production
npm run build

# Lint
npm run lint

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please read our contributing guidelines before submitting PRs.

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
Open a Pull Request

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📚 Related Resources

Learn More

Community

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📜 License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgments

Protocol Labs for IPFS and Helia
Anthropic for Claude and MCP
The agents-skills-plugins marketplace for inspiration

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<p align="center"> Built with ❤️ for the decentralized web </p>

MCP-IPFS